Vladivostok is of ge interest to the rest of the world, and chiefly of course, to England and the United States, as the two Powers with most at stake in the Pacific, for exactly the same reasons that it is of importance to Russia, namely, as the one great naval stronghold and' base, from Which Russian ironclads could issue in time of war to fall upon their enemies in the Pacific, and to which they could return for supplies, for repairs or for refuge. And it was to see this Vladivostok that I came. Is it a. great stronghold? Could it defy a hostile feet? Is it provided with the necessaries of an efficient naval base? Does it, as its name declares, help those who hold it to the possession of the East?" These are the questions I have to answer as well as an outsider and a civilian may. Nobody dae has yet done so.
The last so-called "scare" showed exactly what would be done at Vladivostok in case of war. The lights on Skrypleff Island in the cast entrance and near Pos-pal off Point to guide ships thro entrance, were extinguished; the west entrance. was completely blocked from Larioneff Point to Cape Tokarefski with contact mines; the narrow passage from Cape Novosilsky to Cape Nazimoff was blocked with contact and electric mines, except a channel fifty feet wide under the former, anda gunboat lay near by to stop merchant vessels and send an officer on board to pilot them through; while preparations were made to remove all the civilian inhabitants to a sheltered valley [some distance inland. Supposing now that these precautions were all carried out to-day, could a fairly powerful fleet, such as the English Fleet, or the Pei-yang (Northern) Squadron of the Chinese fleet if properly officered, or the Japanese fleet, force an entrance? We will say for the sake of argument, to begin with, that the Russian fleet is out of the way. "What are the defences of Vladivostok? Both channels are commanded and their mine-fields protected by Fort Goldobin, and this is armed with a number of 9-inch muzzle-loading guns of an old pattern and Russian manufacture. Its upper part is only, I believe, a battery of mortars, In the centre of the long' narrow strip of land forming the western side of the harbour is a powerful battery, containing, I believe, two 28 centime tre breech-loading Krupp guns, probably about 27 ton guns, throwing a shell of 516 Ibs., and these ate the heaviest guns with which Vladivostok is armed to-day. Further to the north a little higher than it is marked on my sketch-map, 18 another battery, formed, I believe, of two 8-inch breech-loading cannon, two more of the same 28 centimetre Krupps, and four mortars. These two batteries are designed to protect the weak point of Vladivostok,—the shelling of the town and arsenal over the land from points marked om my map with double arrows. That *s all. The answer is therefore easy. Vladivostok, in the absence of men-of-war to protect it, could un-0." bredly be taken by such fleets as I have mentioned, and if the last scare" had become a struggle there can be little doubt that the English Fleet would have first shelled the town and chen forced an entrance to the harbour, For the town could be shelled easily at 8,000 yards, while the Vombarding ships constantly moving would present a poor target for the Krup guns at nearly 4,000 yards; the 9-inc muzzle-louders are not. weapons of much precision or penetration, and the men fighting them would be terribly expos-ea. the: mooters, "unless, they care of the' recent pattern with which Irupp. has been "experimenting which i doubtful, though of course I do not know, are of little or no use at all; while removing or exploding mines which are not well protected by batteries is a comparatively easy present they would add tote Sibatty to th exactly their own strength, a matter which Qoes not come within the range of this cussion, But after an attack made to-day, Vindivestok would certainly not be the possession of the Kast"—it would be the possession of the enemy.
But what if the attack be deferred till to-morrow? The truth of the foregoing assertion can be almost proved, as you prove a sum-in division by another in multiplication, by the fact, not yet known and appreciated, that the Russian Govern. ment is adding tothe defences of Viadivi tok in every respect and on the most lavish scale, An estimate has just been passed by the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, and submitted to St. Petersburg for approval, for strengthening Vladivostok by, engineering work alone at an expense of no less than 6,000,000 roubles, and a good deal of this is being rapidly spent in anticipation. The Arsenal is being greatly enlarged by both new buildings and new machinery; an addition to the great floating Stanfield dock is just finishing fine new barracks are under construction and several new forts are half finished, of a size and arrangement far in advance of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.